"HiTEC 059 — The End of Television": HiTEC (Histrionic Thought Experiment Cooperative) was originally proposed as "Sonic Aughts Union" by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE after a May 2008 gig in the Carnegie Public Library Oakland branch with separate sets by t,ac; Margaret Cox; Rick Gribenas; & Steve Boyle. The name was a take-off on the Sonic Arts Union, a group that t,ac admired.  The original SAU had 4 main members who only did solo pieces & never collaborated with each other.  This struck t,ac as a short-coming that he hoped to correct in this 2nd SAU.  When "Sonic Aughts Union" failed to materialize as cONVENIENCE originally imagined, it transformed into HiTEC & into more orchestral dimensions. Its 1st rehearsal was on July 14, 2008. In an attempt to document every rehearsal, mini-dv was shot, sometimes w/ 2 cameras, sometimes w/ the camera(s) only on (a) tripod(s), sometimes w/ camera operators - & explanatory titles have been added. The numbers in the title represent the number of the session/rehearsal & the letters represent the sub-group of HiTEC that was rehearsing. There were as many as 3 sessions/rehearsals a week, tENT was the person conducting all of those (with 3 exceptions) & tENT asked that all "Systems Managers", as the players were called, rehearse at least 8 times before being considered ready for public performance - which amounted to, roughly, one rehearsal every 2 weeks.  Some of the Systems Managers seemed to consider themselves 'too good' to have to rehearse so much.  They were wrong.  Many people came & went, auditioning with us only once & then deciding it wasn't for them.  Originally, tENT had wanted to have dancers but the people who initially tried to participate as such didn't like it.  It was probably too conceptual for them.  HiTEC, at its peak, had 22 members although all 22 never played at once.  The highest amount ever playing together was 21 at our 2nd gig.  

This 59th  incarnation was the 2nd big production & the membership consisted of: Tony Balko: SM camcorder; tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE: electronics, voice; Ben Opie: saxes, Thingamagoop; Kenny Haney: Bb clarinet; James Gyre: darbouka, drum set, flute; Spat Cannon: acoustic bass; Dani Simmonds: ukelele, small banjo, harmonica, darbouka, electronics; Roger Dannenberg: trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet; Josh Beyer: cello; Julian Krishnamurti: electric bass; Johan Nystrom: extended percussion; Hyla Willis: amplified erhu; Ben Harris: violin; Jonathan Brodsky: monome with mabalhabla software; Mike Tamburo: hammered dulcimer, Crowned Eternal, melodica; David Bernabo: electric guitar; William Wedler: Experiment 1; joy toujours: trombone; Unfinished Symphonies: electronic keyboard; Red Bob Jungkunz: drums; Mike Kasunic: synthesizer, flute, percussion — A spectacular 21 participants!  Since tENT had already made the document of the January 9, 2009, Systems Management at the New Hazlett Theater in a highly explanatory way, this document is much more 'let loose' & revels in the largely unexplained chaos.  Nonetheless, it's framed by interviews that counterbalance that somewhat.  Two other groups were on the bill: Sound/Unsound Trio (Pittsburgh) & Valentine Trio (Chicago).  The whole event was organized by Ian Page who started broadcasting it on channel 5 analog TV at the time that analog broadcasters officially switched over to digital.  tENT put an incredible amount of work into making this document visually stimulating.  The documentation of HiTEC presentations went downhill after this.

- May 2, 2019 notes from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE  

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